It was different this time
by VCLvcl123
Summary: Starts out in Becketts POV. She cant stop thinking about how brave Castle had been. He took a bullet for her. Then it goes back 6 days to what happened. It jumps back an forth the rest of the story. Caskett at the end.
1. Chapter 1

**I have wanted to write something like this for a while now and decided i should. I hoe you like it. idk if people will like it. So review if you like it. Review if you dont like it if you want to. If i get lots of posotive reviews then congrats, there will be a second chapter. If i get negative reviews then thanks for letting me know im doing something wrong. Review**

**I do NOT own any part of Castle. **

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She sat at her desk looking at all the paper work she needed to do. She had a ton, but she most definitely did not feel like doing it. She wanted to be with him. His daughter was with him as was his mother but she felt like she should be the one taking care of him.

He had gotten out of the hospital two days ago and she still hadn't had a chance to go see him at home. First there was closing the case, then there was the paper work. The giant stack of paper work sitting on her desk that she needed to do.

Of course she had seen him well he was in the hospital and Alexis called when he got out but she still felt like it had been forever. Time goes by really slow without him working with her.

It was her fault in the first place that he wasn't here. Why did he have to be such a hero? Why wasn't she paying close enough attention?

He was shot because her back was turned. When Deamer came in with a gun and aimed it at her, he saved her life. He jumped at her knocking them both down. He took a bullet for her.

"Well I'm off." Esposito said to a day-dreaming Beckett. "_Have a nice night. Thanks I will and you do the same. Bye. Bye."_ Esposito answered for himself for her teasing her.

"What?" She said. She wasn't paying attention at all.

"Exactly." He said chuckling.

"I'm sorry. I just… I can't focus."

Esposito came over and sat in Castle's chair. "Leave the paperwork for another day and go see him." He said in his brotherly tone.

"He'll be mad. He won't want to see me. It's my fault his shoulder is in a sling"

"It is not. And anyway you saw him in the hospital."

"That was different."

"How?"

"Where you there when he woke up?" She asked.

"Uh... yeah why?"

"He wasn't all there. They had given him so much morphine that he probably wouldn't have cared if someone was gnawing on his toes." She said and Esposito laughed.

"You've got a point there, but it wasn't your fault and Castle wants to see you."

"You don't know that." She said and as if on cue he cell lit up with Castles picture and started to ring. She pressed the end button like she had been doing all day.

"I rest my case." Esposito said and got up. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye… and thanks." She said as she started to gather her things. She would go see him.

**Six Days Earlier**

"Your alibi didn't check. Would you like to tell me where you really were?" Beckett asked the wife of Daniel Kint.

Castle loved this. He loved when everything started to crumble and they caught the bad guy.

Shauna just sat and looked at Beckett. She had a very embarrassing look on her face.

"No? Okay, well we'll have to go to the station for questioning then." Beckett said firmly, standing up.

"No, wait. I'll tell you." But before Beckett could sit back down on the couch that's back was to the door the junkie they had been looking for came in. He was their prime suspect. When he saw them he pulled out a gun. Beckett didn't notice him but Castle did.

"Beckett down." He yelled but he knew she didn't have time to react so he jumped. He literally jumped in front of her. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and he crashed to the floor. He saw Beckett pull out her gun and shoot the junkie. Then things started to get fuzzy. He was in so much pain.

The last thing he heard before he passed out was Beckett's voice. "Call 911. Castle are you okay? Castle… cast…" He couldn't hear her anymore and next thing he knew he was in the hospital and he had no idea why.

"Dad?" He heard Alexis say as his eyes fluttered open. "Are you waking up." He was so tired and everything felt weird. He was really dizzy. "Dad?"

"Shush. Just Shh." He said looking at his daughter. He tried to sit up but his arm stung.

"Are you feeling okay? Do you need me to get the doctor?" Alexis whispered.

"I can't… What happened?" he asked struggling to remember.

Then the rest of the room came into view. He saw his mother and Montgomery. Then he could see Ryan and Esposito. At the back of the room was Beckett staring at the floor. Beckett! It all came back to him. The Junkie, the gun, he fired, I jumped, he thought to himself.

"Are you dead?" he asked her then changed the question. "No, am I dead? Who died?" He asked and everyone smiled.

"Nobody died."

"Didn't you get…" Then he stopped randomly changing the subject. "…I'm thirsty. It's so dry in here. When was the last time I ate? I need some food. And a gallon of water." He said obviously not completely in his right mind yet. He closed his eyes and it looked like he was falling back asleep then he scared everyone.

"It was like BOOM BANG POP!" he said. They all figured he was talking about the bullet. "All I knew was that she" he pointed a finger at Beckett. "Could have died. I had to save her. If I didn't she would be dead and that would suck, because I…" His eyes closed again and they all stared at him with questioning looks.

"…Need her alive because without her I…" he was kind of fading in and out which was to be expected after the surgery to remove the bullet. "Can't… write without her. Me and my bestest friend Nikki Heat need her." He said and then fell asleep.

"They give good drugs here." Ryan said and everyone laughed except Beckett. She smiled but she couldn't laugh. It felt wrong. He saved her life in a big way.


	2. Chapter 2

**The present**

Kate seemed to be driving around aimlessly. She had set out to go home but she passed her apartment ten minutes ago. She needed to think. She wanted to see Castle. She really, really wanted to see him, but if he was mad at her it would hurt her. Although, she knew there was another reason she was avoiding him.

Knew it was stupid because Castle isn't really like that. Aside from the pain and the having to stay home until the paper work was done (The paper work on her desk) he probably thought it was pretty cool.

She found herself pulling into an apartment building that wasn't hers or Castle's. When she realized where she had driven herself she was actually kind of relived. Lanie could help, she hoped.

**Five days earlier**

She was alone in the hospital room with him. Martha had taken Alexis home to get some rest. Her team was at the precinct. So she sat there, alone, watching Castle sleep. She hadn't talked to him when he was awake. Someone was always with him when she came and when she'd get her chance to talk visiting hours would be over.

Castle looked really peaceful when he was asleep. She watched his chest go up and down. The I.V machine was really annoying. It would go off every five minutes and then a nurse would come in and press some buttons and leave.

She found herself almost drifting off to sleep when Castle started to mumble.

"Thank you… I know I do… it's what felt right." He said still sleeping. Kate couldn't help but giggle a little bit. He looked so serious.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The stupid I.V thing went off and it scared Kate. A nurse came in carrying a tray and set it on Castle's table. She pushed some buttons on the machine and it shut up.

"He needs to eat." She said gesturing towards the tray. Then she left. She was kind of a snob. What was Kate supposed to do, wake him up? She really didn't want to.

"Castle. Hey… um… Castle it's…uh… time to wake up." She felt like a mother trying to wake a sleeping child on a school day. She kind of nudged his good arm. "It's dinner time Castle, time for you to eat."

His eyes fluttered open and he looked at her, then closed them again. She stood up and got closer to him.

"You need to wake up and eat." This time his eyes stayed open. He looked at her and tried to talk but his mouth was to dry.

He reached for his little Styrofoam cup and took a sip.

"Kate, I need to tell you something well I still can. I mean, I almost died. So sit down and brace yourself."

She was kind of worried about what he would say. Even more that he would say something and then not remember it later.

"Kate, it's okay that I'm calling you Kate right?"

She smiled. "Yeah, Rick, it's fine." She said using his first name.

"I need you to know that I… is that jello?" He asked looking at his tray. He was so scatterbrained. She grabbed the jello and handed it to him. "I really like jello."

"Good to know."

"Oh yeah, I was telling you something. What I was going to say is that I think you are the sexiest person alive." Kate's cheeks turned red. "I mean, have you looked at yourself lately?" He asked and then took a big bite of jello.

Her cheeks were so red and she was thinking about getting up and leaving.

"Sexy is the wrong word. I think you're…" He thought about it for a moment. "Drop dead gorgeous." She was trying really hard not to tell him to shut up. Her face was the brightest shade of red.

"Castle…"

"Shh. I'm not finished." He stared at her seriously. "I also want you to make sure of something, it may seem a little rude but it's what's right." What was he talking about.

"Um… okay."

"Don't let Meredith take Alexis if I die. She should stay with my mom, or with you even."

"You're not going to die." She said and then she realized he said she should stay with her. She shot him a questioning look.

"You're a great role model. You're a strong woman who's beautiful on the inside and out. Just like my daughter. How did I get so lucky to have the two most beautiful girls in my life?" Kate couldn't take it anymore. She got up and left. She was going to splash some water on her face or something.

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**Well, theres chapter two. I hope you like it. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey girl. What's up?" Lanie asked when she opened her door.

"Can I come in? I need to talk to someone."

"Um… Well now's not the best time. We could talk in the hall though."

Kate thought about it for a moment. She knew what Lanie was doing.

"Lanie, do you have a man in there?"

"Who is it?" She heard a familiar voice ask from inside.

Kate just raised an eyebrow at Lanie.

Lanie blushed. Esposito came out in just boxers. "Oh, Beckett. Um, I think I'm just going to..."

"Go get some pants on maybe." She said smiling at him.

"Yeah." He said and hurried back inside.

"So… uh… what did you need?"

"You know what, never mind, I'll let you get back to…" She paused thinking about the right word. "Okay, well bye." She would give Esposito shit about this tomorrow.

"Bye." Lanie said still pretty embarrassed.

**Three days earlier **

**Castle's POV**

"Yay, you get to come home today." Alexis said gathering Rick's stuff from the hospital dresser.

"I'm can't wait to show Paterson my battle scar at our next poker game." He said. His arm still hurt pretty badly but he wasn't so loopy today.

"The guys will be so jealous." Roy said coming into the room. "So you're discharged then?"

"Yep, the paper was signed this morning. I should be able to be back at the precinct pretty soon."

"Not until the paper work is finished."

"Well then get to the paper work. I think I'm ready to be back. I'll probably be staying in the precinct for a while before I go back out."

"I'm not the one filing the paper work, Beckett is. You'll have to talk to her about when you come back."

"Where is she this fine afternoon?"

"As far as I know she's sitting at her desk staring at the paper work."

"Hmm, I'll have to call her about it then."

"Yeah. Well I'm glad to see you get to go home so soon. I'll see you when you get back."

"Thanks for coming by." Castle said as Montgomery walked off.

"You're all packed. Ready to go?"

"Definitely." He said grabbing his pillow. He felt bad that Alexis had to carry it all.

"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up." Castle said into his phone. He had tried Beckett a whole bunch of times since he had gotten home and she never answered. He even called Ryan's phone and when he handed the phone to Beckett she ended the call. Was she mad at him?

"Still no answer?" Martha asked.

"What did I do? Did I say something while I was in the hospital?"

He was informed earlier that he had been very entertaining on morphine. He couldn't remember any of it though. He remembered people visiting him, he remembered talking to them, but he didn't remember what he said.

"I don't think so kiddo. She was really worried about you."

"If she's worried about me she should come see me, of file the paper work."

"You aren't supposed to go back for another week. That's what the doctor said when we left. So it doesn't matter if she files it now or later. Plus you can't do any strenuous activities so you should stay home anyway." Alexis said coming into the room with a bowl of popcorn.

They were going to have a Rush Hour marathon.

"I don't like just sitting around."

"Tough." Martha and Alexis said at the same time, and then they started the movie. Castle still couldn't help but think that he did something wrong.

Kate figured she should just go see him. She knew he wouldn't be mad at her. His five thousand messages that he left her proved that. But she felt so bad. She was also a little embarrassed about him calling her drop dead gorgeous. Sure he probably doesn't remember, but she did. She didn't want him to like her just for her looks. Even though she kind of liked to hear him compliment her.

The car behind her laid on the horn and she realized the light was green.

She pulled into his buildings parking garage. It's now or never.

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**Please review. I love to hear your thoughts. And just because i'm having such a great day here's a sneak peek.**

"Oh, Kate darling how are you?" Martha asked after answering the door.

"I'm good, i was wondering if i could talk to Castle."

"Richard just took his medicine and went to bed. Should i tell him to call you?"

She finally go the currage to come talk to Castle about how bad she feels and about what he said at the hospital and he's asleep.

"Um.. sure why not." She said and then there was a crash from upstairs.


	4. Crash

**It's a short chapter but i like it. i am wearing my *shut the front door* shirt right now. Just Thought you might wanna know. I love that episode, Fool me Once i believe. Anyway, read and enjoy.**

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Kate slowly walked to the elevator and pressed the button. It seemed like the elevator took ages to get to the garage floor. She stepped on and pressed her button. The doors closed and she listened to the dings as the elevator rose.

When she got off the elevator she debated going down the hall to his apartment, or turning around and running.

**Two days ago**

"Hey looks like somebody has a stalker." Esposito said handing Kate a handful of messages. "Do you know how many times he's called here asking to talk to you? Asking if you are okay? Asking if he did something wrong and what he can do to fix it?"

Kate looked at the messages. There were ten from Castle and one from her dad.

"Why are avoiding the man? He saved your life the least you could do is answer his calls." Esposito said trying to sound a little harsh but not rude.

"I'm not avoiding him, I'm just busy." She said.

"Doing what? Staring at your coffee mug. Be careful, it might move."

"Just ignore his calls."

"Easier said than done."

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She dreaded knocking on the door. She still didn't know exactly what she would say. She couldn't just go in there and ask if he thought of her as just a hot piece of ass. Also, the whole him telling her she should look after Alexis had her stomach in knots.

She lifted her hand, then dropped it, then picked it up and knocked. Martha answered the door.

"Oh Kate darling how are you?"

"I'm doing all right. I was wondering if I could talk to Castle?"

"Richard took his medicine and went to bed about five minutes ago. Should I have him call you?"

"Sure, why not." Kate replied and then there was a crash from upstairs.

"Dad!" They heard Alexis yell, bolting from her room. Kate and Martha both darted up the stairs.

"I'm… I'm okay, I think." He said as they all rushed into his room. He was on the floor in his boxers and he was clutching his arm. This came to two men Kate had seen in there boxers tonight. Let's go for three shall we. She thought to herself.

"What happened?" Martha asked. Rick looked up at her, noticed Kate and instantly turned red. He pulled himself back on the bed, covering up in the process.

"I was having this dream. I was on top of a building and there was this monkey. He was eating some cheese puffs and wouldn't share. When I tried to take some he bit me and then he pushed me off the building and I was falling. Then I hit the floor."

Kate couldn't help herself in thinking about his figure. He had been hiding perfectly sculpted abs for the past two years. As she looked from his stomach to his chest she saw the bandage and cringed. His arm around the bandage was black and blue. The bruises looked painful.

"Well as long as you're okay." Martha said interrupting Kate's thoughts.

"I think maybe this medicine gives you strange dreams. Last night you had that dream where you were an apple and a banana was using you as a bowling ball. And when you hit the pins you turned into apple sauce."

"Yeah, that was weird." He said trying to sound manly when you could tell his shoulder hurt from falling. "So, Kate, I think we need to talk."

"Alexis dear let's go make some hot chocolate." Martha said ushering the young girl out of the room.

"You've been avoiding my calls, why?" He asked bluntly.

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**So now that you have read and enjoyed i would be very happy if you reviewed. I have a question, review and i'll tell you the correct answer. *Is there intelligent lif on earth?***


	5. Chapter 5

"Well?" Castle asked staring at Kate. She couldn't come up with the right answer to his question.

"You weren't all there in the hospital." She said not really answering his question.

"So I've been told. Why, did I say something? I'm sorry if I said something."

"Nothing bad, it's just…" How could she tell him? He had embarrassed her when he said it so how was she going to replay it for him? "What do you think of me? I mean, why you follow me around all day every day. And don't say research for Nikki Heat, because you have done a lot of research and you're only barely finished with two books."

"I… uh… huh?"

"Why do you follow ME around? You've told me why you choose me for Nikki Heat, but I want to know…" she trailed off not know what to add to that. She felt like such a retard.

"Honestly? I like you. You're fun to be around. I have fun bickering with you, and I like feeling like I'm helping you out. I mean, I took the bullet for you because it was you I would be saving. I don't know what I said in the hospital but I'm sorry."

"You, you basically said you like me for my looks. That that's why you follow me around. You also said I something should happen to you to take care of Alexis because I'm a good role model for her and Meredith isn't. I guess I've been avoiding you because what you said after that rather than just that."

"What did I say?" He asked worried.

"You said that I was… beautiful inside and out and that you were lucky to have me and Alexis, the two most beautiful girls in the world, in your life." Saying it all out loud made her feel pathetic.

"That doesn't sound bad. I mean, it's true, not that I like you only for your looks part," he said scooting closer to her on the bed. "But that you are a great role model and you are beautiful on the inside and out." He brushed her hair out of her face to get a better look at her. When his hand brushed against her cheek she felt butterflies in her stomach. "So what made you stay away?"

"You… you embarrassed me." She said really wishing she was a turtle and could hide in her shell. But when she was around him her shell got all soft and mushy and didn't seem to fit anymore.

He lifter her chin so that she was looking into his eyes. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I guess I just wanted you to know the truth." His eyes were so warm and inviting.

"I feel like an idiot." She said. He pulled out a grin that could make you faint. Kate's heart did a little flip flop.

"You are most definitely not an idiot." He said staring deep into her eyes. Those deep green eyes. In that moment he knew that she had finally let him all the way in.

"But I feel like an idiot." She said unconsciously moving closer to him.

"Don't. Don't feel like an idiot and don't be embarrassed." He said softly. Before she knew what she was doing she kissed him. At first he seemed startled but then he let her kiss him and she let him kiss back. She had her fingers in his hair and his hand was rubbing the small of her back. Their kiss deepened and they had no real intension of stopping until heard Martha announce from the bottom of the stairs that they were on their way back up and that if they didn't want things to be heard, or seen, they should wait until morning.

Kate sat up right breathless on Castle's bed. He was breathing pretty hard to and he looked very happy.

"Good night kiddo." Martha said from the doorway. "It was nice to see you detective."

"It was nice to see you to."

"Night dad, and um, night Kate." Alexis said as she walked to her room.

They waited until they were sure those two were gone before they spoke.

"What does this mean?" Castle asked. Beckett really didn't have an answer. She had no real intension of coming over here tonight let alone kissing Castle.

"It means it's time for you to get some rest." She said pulling the covers up to his chin and kissing him on the forehead before letting herself out.

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**Well, thats the ending. I know it was a pretty short story. Sorry if you dont like it. i hope you liked it. Thank you for reading the whole thing. **

**~Victoria**


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